Der Blogger

"Enough is enough!" "This can't go on!" "This has to stop!" These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Wanderlust

As a travel destination, Germany has never been more popular. With tourist numbers forecast to rise for an eighth consecutive year, what is the country doing right to account for its thriving visitor numbers?

Akademia

For education experts, English language lessons have proven valuable in primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the Alternative for Germany’s state parliamentary group in NRW have a rather different view.

Essen & Trinken

Police in the city of Osnabrück had to clear crowds in front of a new döner kebab shop on Tuesday, after about 150 hungry people packed the street outside, eager to get their hands on a döner for only €0.01.

Germericana

Many Americans have German ancestors — and that's also the case for actress Meghan Markle, who will be marrying Prince Harry, himself a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German dynasty.

Polish parliament mulls demand for Germany to pay WWII reparations

More than 72 years after the end of the Second World War, Polish politicians are demanding that Germany pay their country reparations. A research office of the Sejm – Poland’s lower house of parliament – is now reviewing whether this would be possible.

The analysis should be complete by August 11th, Sejm representative Arkadiusz Mularczyk of the leading Law and Justice party (PiS) told news agency PAP on Wednesday.

The review comes after comments made by the powerful head of the PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who last week accused Germany of “rejecting” its Second World War responsibilities, going as far as to suggest Berlin should pay reparations.

“We are talking about huge sums and also the fact that the Germans have for years rejected their responsibility for the Second World War,” Kaczynski told Catholic radio station Radio Maryja.

Kaczynski’s brother and former President Lech Kaczynski – who died in 2010 – had estimated when he was mayor of Warsaw that the had cost the capital city alone $45.3 billion.

In August 1953, Poland’s former communist government was under pressure from the Soviet Union when it decided not to take further compensation from Germany as a way to help solve “the German question in the spirit of democracy and peace.” The Second World War had begun with the Nazis’ invasion of Poland and the war ultimately cost around six million Polish citizens their lives.

“It is not genuine that Poland renounced reparations that were due to us from Germany,” said Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz to Polish news channel TVP Info.

German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said that Germany “stands by its responsibility in the Second World War, politically, morally and financially.” But she added that the question of reparations had already been legally and politically resolved.

Macierewicz argues that the former communist government had been used as a puppet for the Soviet Union at the time of its decision.

Relations between Berlin and Warsaw have been on edge recently over issues including Germany’s push to share responsibility for refugees across Europe – which Poland has rejected – to the European Commission’s infringement procedure against PiS plans to have more control over the judiciary.

Kultur

The German term "Heimat," often translated as "homeland," was long thought of as tacky, regressive, and even politically dubious. But since the election, German politicians across the spectrum are using it once again.

Das Kino

This month's Berlin film festival, Europe's first major cinema showcase in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, will shine a light on sexual misconduct in the industry, its director said on Tuesday.

Gesundheit

In the run-up to international World Cancer Day on Sunday, experts have said that about half of all cancer cases in Germany could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Across the country, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But experts say things like exercise could cut this figure in half. “Movement can […]